Washingtonstate Office of the Secretary of State

WashingtonState Office of the Secretary of State

ITPS Work Request

Request for Qualifications and Quotation, Project Quality Assurance

OSOS Solicitation number:16-11

Project name: QA for Corporations and Charities System Development

Performance Period: Approximately 7/15/2016 through04/28/2017

This solicitation is issued by the Washington State Office of the Secretary of State pursuant to the Information Technology Professional Services (ITPS) program which is separately coordinated by the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES).

DES separately maintains a group of categorized notification lists or "pools" of IT service providers within the state's solicitation notification system (WEBS) for state purchasers to advertise their solicitations to when they seek competitive proposals for their IT business needs. This is one of those solicitations.

The categories of lists are shown below and they identify common IT business needs of state government. This solicitation specifies one or more of those categories (checked).

The only IT service providers who should be able to view and download this solicitation are on the notification list in WEBS for the category checked below.

NOTE: If this is not the case, and you are viewing this solicitation, you received it by some other means outside of WEBS and the Purchaser will not entertain a proposal from you.For further detail, see Bidder Eligibility section.

Solicitation Schedule
Solicitation posting date: 06/1/2016
Last amendment posted: No later than 06/6/2016, 5 PM PT
Deadline for questions: 06/7/2016, 12 PM (Noon) PT
Answers to questions posted: No later than 06/8/2016, 5 PM PT
Last day for complaints: No later than 06/9/2016, 5 PM PT
Responses to Complaints provided: No later than 06/14/2016
Proposals due: No later than 06/16/2016, 5:00 PM PT
Oral interviews (if required): 06/24/2016
Vendor selection: No later than 07/1/2016
Protest/Debriefing conference requests: Protests will not be entertained unless the protesting bidder requests debriefing conference within three business days following notification of vendor selection, and participates in debriefing conference.
Solicitation Coordinator
Name: Janell Stewart
Title: Contracts Specialist
Phone: 360.704.5263
Email: / Categories<check all that apply>
ITPS_08215_01. IT Funding & Financial Analysis
ITPS_08215_02. IT Business Analysis
ITPS_08215_03. Continuity/Disaster Recovery
ITPS_08215_04. IT Project Management
ITPS_08215_05. Project Quality Assurance
ITPS_08215_06. Software Testing
ITPS_08215_07. Client/Server & Web Services
ITPS_08215_08. Database Services
ITPS_08215_09. GIS Services
ITPS_08215_10. Infrastructure Services
ITPS_08215_11. Mainframe Services
ITPS_08215_12. Mobile Services

Table of Contents

1.Bidder Eligibility

2.Definitions

3.Project Description

a.Location

b.Scope of Work

c.Period of Performance

d.Work Requirements

e.Deliverables

f.Acceptance Criteria

g.Funding and Retainage

4.Required Submittals

a.Pre-Screening Documentation

b.Price Worksheet

c.Non-Cost Submittals

d.Solicitation Amendments

5.Administrative Requirements

a.Delivery of Proposals

b.Due Date and Time

c.Required Submittals

6.Evaluation and Award

a.Award Criteria

b.Evaluation Process

(1)Initial Determination of Responsiveness

(2)Cost Evaluation

(3)Non-Cost Evaluation

(4)Interviews / Oral Evaluations

(5)Selection of Apparent Successful Bidders

(6)Notification of Apparent Successful Bidders

(7)Award Notification

(8)Award

7.Additional Instructions to Bidders

a.Authorized Communication

b.Questions

c.Complaints and Protests

8.General Information

a.Option to Extend

b.Right to Cancel

c.Information Availability

d.Work Orders

e.Solicitation Amendments

Washington State Office of the Secretary of State
ITPS Work Request – 16-11 / 1

1.Bidder Eligibility

Proposals to this solicitation will only be entertained from companies who are currently on the WEBS notification list for the technical service category checked on the cover page.

The notification lists are separately administered by DES, not the Solicitation Coordinator. Addition to notification lists is a prerequisite to submitting a proposal to this or any other ITPS Work Request and is separately accomplished by submitting a program agreement to DES.

2.Definitions

“Agency” means a government entity of the state of Washington.

“DES” means the Washington state Department of Enterprise Services, any division, section, office, unit or other entity of DES or any of the officers or other officials lawfully representing DES.

“Notification List” means a list within WEBS which is categorized by technical service category for state purchasers to use for notification purposes when they seek competitive bids or proposals. A company must first register in WEBS and complete this agreement in order to be added to any notification list.

“OSOS” means the Washington State Office of the Secretary of State.

“Purchaser”means the authorized user of the program who may or actually does make purchases of material, supplies, services, and/or equipment under the resulting Work Order. Includes any Washington state agency and any authorized party to the Master Contracts Usage Agreement (MCUA). Includes institutions of higher education, boards, commissions, nonprofit corporations andpolitical subdivisions such as counties, cities, school districts, or public utility districts.

“Solicitation” means the process of notifying prospective bidders of a request for competitive bids or proposals. Also includes reference to the actual documents used for that process, along with all amendments or revisions thereto.

“Technical Service Category” means an information technology skill categorized by common IT business need of state government described and set forth in this agreement.

“Washington’s Electronic Business Solution or WEBS” means DES’s web-based solicitation notification system.

“Work Order” means a contractual document incorporated by reference to this solicitation and executed between an eligible purchaser and a company. Each Work Order shall be the result of a Work Request (competitive solicitation).

“Work Request” means a purchaser’s solicitation that requests bids or proposals specific to their requirements. An ITPS work request will specify a technical service category and purchasers will only entertain bids or proposals from companies who are on the notification lists for the technical service category specified.

“You” means the person or firm, completing this agreement, and includes all of its officers and employees.

3.Project Description

OSOS is amidst a development project for programing of a replacement system to support the Corporations and Charities Division. This is a replacement of the existing imaging and filing system that is used to facilitate Division operations, including filing, renewing, updating, and viewing Corporations and Charity public records and other services rendered by the Division. This is an approximately three-million dollar underlying project. The in-process development, build, test, training, change management, and implementation schedule is expected to last approximately eighteen months.

a.Location

Washington State Office of the Secretary of State

801 Capitol Way S.

Olympia, WA 98501

b.Scope of Work

OSOS is looking for an ITPS Vendor to provide a Quality Assurance professional who will be responsible for consulting, assessing, and monitoringthe health and effectiveness of the Corporations and Charities System Development project, including:

• The overall project management plan,as it relates to the OSOS Corporations and Charities Project,
• The project’s risk and risk mitigation plans, and
• The overall readiness of OSOS for implementation of the replacement system including, but not limited to:
• Training of internal OSOS staff on use of the new system
• Organization Change Management impact to OSOS staff
• Implementation and Go Live Planning
• Knowledge Transfer from the Vendor to OSOS staff for ongoing support as well as changes and enhancements to the new system
• Change management for ongoing support and enhancements

c.Period of Performance

The project is currently in development and production phase. It is divided into a Corporations Segment (Segment 1) and a Charities Segment (Segment 2). The project developer is scheduled to issue releases for Segment 1 through August 2016. OSOS will commence User Acceptance Testing upon the final Segment 1 release.

Vendor will begin project plan assessment and monitoring of active project promptly upon contract execution. The period of performance will be through April 2017 or later to ensure proper quality management for the construction and delivery of the Segment 2and project close-out activities.

d.Work Requirements

As directed by the OSOS Contract Manager, the Contractor shall ensure that delivery of services are performed in a professional manner in accordance with, but not limited to, the following:

• Use of sound professional judgment;
• Demonstrate leadership in quickly and effectively resolving technical and project issues;
• Provide thorough, complete knowledge transfer to OSOS staff;
• Provide timely, accurate and informed communications;
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate on all aspects of the tasks assigned to multiple levels of stakeholders (ex: technical, managerial, and executive levels);
• Regularly complete and update task artifacts;
• Regular, punctual attendance at all scheduled meetings;
• Creation of high quality deliverables; and
• Successful delivery of the agreed-upon task scope.

The Contractor must comply with the following expectations, conditions and constraints:

• Work On-Site: Due to the nature of the project, the Contractor will be expected to provide services on-site at an OSOS-provided office space in Olympia, Washington. It is anticipated that the nature of the project will require work to be performed during hours that are compatible with other project team members in order to maximize team effectiveness and project success.
• Remain available throughout the Period of Performance: Vendor personnel must be available for the entire project.
• The Contractor will be available to begin work no later than the project start date indicated herein, and be committed to OSOS without interruption throughout the Period of Performance. If a request to change Vendor personnel is received after the execution of the Contract, the Contractor will be subject to the other provisions as stated in the Contract.
• Comply with all OSOS methodologies and standards for software development (architectural standards, configuration management, programming standards, testing methodologies, change control, peer reviews) and maintain all project-related documentation within the project’s SharePoint repository.
• Participate in project meetings: Participate in all project status reviews and other meetings as requested by the OSOS Executive Sponsor.
• Comply with all OSOS division policies and standards (ethics, Internet /e-mail usage, security, and harassment). Failure to comply may result in contract termination. This compliance requirement includes participation in OSOS Annual IT Security Training.
• Attitude and Behavior: Vendor personnel must maintain an open, friendly, positive, proactive, solution-focused attitude and behavior.
• Work independently to perform the specified services and deliverables.
• Work cooperatively within new and established project teams and with OSOS business and technical staff as required.
• Contractor creates and nurtures a results-oriented culture that focuses on measurable outcomes by fostering teamwork and innovation to accomplish OSOS mission and goals.
• Contractor accepts personal responsibility for the quality and timeliness of work.
• Meet or exceed predetermined goals and objectives with little need for oversight.
• Deliverables are completed within stated timelines.
• Provide knowledge transfer to OSOS technical staff as appropriate and mutually agreed.

e.Deliverables

Deliverable No. 1:

Create and provide aninitialwritten Quality Assurance Plan according to OCIO project methodology and standards.

Deliverable No. 2:

Create and provide a written report assessing the project management plan as it relates to:

• Training of internal OSOS staff on use of the new system;
• Organization Change Management impact to OSOS staff;
• Implementation and Go Live Planning;
• Knowledge transfer from the underlying project Vendor to OSOS staff for ongoing support as well as changes and enhancements to the new system; and
• Change management for ongoing support and enhancements.

Deliverable No. 3:

Create and provide a written report assessing the project risks and current risk mitigation plans, and identifying additional mitigation options.

Deliverable No. 4:

Participate in regularly scheduled meetings and provide regular reports throughout the performance period.

Deliverable No. 5:

Provide consultative support, knowledge transfer, and professional advice to the OSOS project manager and other OSOS staff throughout the performance period.

Deliverable No. 6:

Create and provide a written Project Close-out Report, including a post implementation review, at the conclusion of the project.

f.Acceptance Criteria

OSOS shall have a period of five (5) business days after the Contractor notifies OSOS that a defined Deliverable is complete, to evaluate the Deliverable to determine if the Deliverable contains any material deviations. If OSOS does not notify the Contractor in writing of any nonconformity prior to the deadline, then the Deliverable shall be deemed accepted.

If OSOS notifies the Contractor in writing of a defined Deliverable nonconformity, then the Contractor shall promptly make reasonable efforts to correct the Deliverable, whereupon OSOS shall receive an additional five (5) business day period, commencing upon OSOS’s receipt of the correction, to verify that the previously reported Deliverable has been satisfactorily corrected. OSOS shall provide the Contractor with all reasonable assistance required by the Contractor to verify the existence of and correct a reported Deliverable nonconformity. The parties shall repeat this process until OSOS accepts the defined Deliverable. The Deliverable shall be deemed accepted by OSOS upon expiration of any period during which no defined Deliverable nonconformity has been reported.

This Contract may be renegotiated to provide for additional services subject to continued satisfactory completion of work as specified herein. Prior to commencing any work that exceeds the Contract specification, written approval from OSOS in the form of a fully signed Contract amendment must be received.

g.Funding and Retainage

OSOS will pay up to eighty percent for each completed deliverable upon acceptance by OSOS. The remaining amount due shall be payable upon completion and acceptance of all work and the final deliverable.

Any Work Order awarded as a result of this procurement is contingent upon the availability of funding.

4.Required Submittals

Each bidder must provide a proposal with the following itemsas email attachments:

• Pre-Screening Documentation
• Price Worksheet

Vendor Qualifications

Solicitation Amendments (if applicable)

The proposal must include the signature of an authorized bidder representative on all documents requiring a signature.

Proposals which do not include any of the required items, as described below, will be rejected for non-responsiveness.

a.Pre-Screening Documentation

Attach a self-authored document detailing any applicable debarments or terminations for cause within the past three years, and the status of any former state employees working for your company.If you have no former state employees working for your company, and have no applicable debarments or terminations for, submit a statement indicating that you no applicable information to report.

Failure to provide this submittal as detailed herein will render a proposal non-responsive and cause it to be rejected.No form is provided for this submittal. The Pre-Screening Documentation must be delivered as a separate electronic attachment, in PDF or other standard electronic format, using the following naming convention:OSOS_16_11_BidderName_Debarments

b.Price Worksheet

Bidders may not bid higher rates than the hourly ratesthey have provided to DES.Any vendor who bids a rate higher than their not-to-exceed rate will be disqualified. However, vendors may bid rates below their not-to-exceed rate.

Bidders shall provide a not-to-exceed deliverable based cost proposal using the table below. The Bidder shall disclose the assumptions used for determining the costs, including rates and hours per deliverable. Submit your company’s estimated hours for each deliverable described above, along with hourly rate and total cost (not to exceed), in the following format:

Deliverable / Personnel
Hours / Hourly
Rate / Total Cost
(without tax)
Deliverable 1: Written Initial QA Plan
Deliverable 2: Written Readiness Assessment Report
Deliverable 3: Written Project Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan
Deliverable 4: Regularly scheduled meetings and reports
Deliverable 5: Ongoing consultative support, professional advice, and knowledge transfer
Deliverable 6: Written Final QA Project Close-out Report
TOTAL:

The Price Worksheet must be delivered as a separate electronic attachment, in PDF or other standard electronic format, using the following naming convention:

OSOS_16_11_BidderName_PRICEWORKSHEET

c.Vendor Qualifications (Non-cost)

Qualifications: OSOS seeks vendors with experience and depth in the identified skills.

Describe your company’s experience, qualifications, and capacity to successfully complete this project. Expected vendor qualifications include supporting independent quality assurance services on Washington information technology projects following OCIO Policy 132. Describe your company’s experience providing similar support to similar clients. Include project or client support examples that can be used as references.

• Describe your company’s methodology for providing QA services.

Describe the tools that will be used and provide an example of a recent QA report.

Describe how you will adapt your processes to meet Washington QA Practices (Policy 132).

Describe the approach you will use to track risks associated with this project.

Describe the approach you will use to assess project operations.

• The Vendor must have the following mandatory experience and qualifications:

Experience providing independent quality assurance services on IT and Business Process Re-Engineering projects for government entities.

• The following experience and qualifications are highly desirable:

TheVendor personnelshould have a methodology for providing quality assurance services.

The Vendor personnel should have experience providing independent quality assurance services for projects of similar size, scope, risk, and complexity.

List any professional certification that the Vendor personnel has, such as PMI, ITIL, TBM, or other relevant certification.

• Summarize the experience of proposed Vendor personnelin the following format, to provide an accurate indication of applicable skills and experience. You may also include a detailed resume for proposed Vendor personnel, showing education, experience, and certifications.

Engagement / Roles and Responsibilities / Number of Months

Applicability of experiences, skills, and certifications will be considered in scoring. Weights applied to the Vendor Qualifications are as follows: